


You Can Leave Your Hat On

by hopeassassin



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: F/M, Heartbroken Satsuki, I love suave and confident Daiki a lot, Office Worker Satsuki, Somewhat one-sided KuroMomo, Stripper AU, Stripping Dancing Daiki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 05:25:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13160184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeassassin/pseuds/hopeassassin
Summary: Satsuki was heart-broken. Being good friends, Alex and Riko volunteered to comfort her in her time of need.What Satsuki didn’t understand was how exactly going to a strip club was supposed to make her feel any better.When they get there, she starts getting a clue.





	You Can Leave Your Hat On

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [aoimine](aoimine.tumblr.com) over at tumblr for the third day of AoMomo week back in the day. For being an endless well of inspiration, for being the best enabler in the world and for constantly spurring me on.
> 
> _Day 3: AU._

From the moment he said he needed to talk to her, she knew it wasn’t going to be anything good.

 

After all, who ever started a nice, pleasant conversation with the phrase ‘I need to talk to you’?

 

It wasn’t a conversation starter.

 

Not unless the conversation you’re planning to have is a difficult one. In which case, obvious phrases like ‘I need to talk to you’ when you’re already talking become a necessity.

 

A necessary way to bide for time while you figure out how to continue.

 

But maybe she was reading too much into it. Surreptitious, she was scrutinizing details, when the moroseness of his tone was all it took to make her stand on edge.

 

It was all it took to make the dread nestle in the pit of her stomach.

 

“Momoi-san,” he started, stumbling over his words. She could see in his face his struggle to find the right words, the least painful words.

 

Whether she was going to be the one footing the pain bill or him, she was yet to find out.

 

“There really is no easy way to say this. I’ll just be blunt and come out with it directly.”

 

She felt her heart drop in the pit of her stomach, where all the dread was currently concentrated. Her heart got drenched in the cold, numbing emotion that robbed her of all reason.

 

“I… I met someone else, Momoi-san,” Tetsu said, delivering the words that drove a dagger into her gut.

 

There it was. The one thing she never wanted to hear him say.

 

Ah, so that’s how it was, she thought. Realization dawned. She was the one set for pain, wasn’t she? It was predetermined from the start.

 

Truthfully, she couldn’t blame him for breaking her heart.

 

She’d set herself up for heartbreak from the beginning. He’d never really given her any reason to keep hoping. All the dates they’d gone on she had pestered him into agreeing to. She had refused to take no for an answer.

 

She had persisted, for two years, idiot that she was.

 

Naively believing that if she cared enough, if he spent more time with her, he’d come to return her feelings.

 

Eventually.

 

Some day.

 

He wasn’t the dating kind of guy, so she thought she had nothing to worry about.

 

She believed there was no rush, she could take her time to slowly work her way into his heart.

 

Obviously, she’d thought  _wrong_.

 

She didn’t remember if he even said anything after that one, crushing confession.

 

Her ears stopped working, a deafening ringing sound in her head rendering them useless. Her fingers tingled with a pain akin to the feeling of having blood flowing in your extremities after a long time of being deprived of it.

 

She wasn’t sure if she was breathing. She wasn’t even sure she knew  _how_ to breathe anymore.

 

That one sentence kept haunting her until it finally brought her to her knees. Tears flowed unchecked down her face, sobs making her whole being shake, making her very soul vibrate painfully in the shell of her body.

 

She wailed pitifully in the empty office, feeling more alone than she ever had in her entire life. Alone and wallowing in her misery.

 

Tetsu had been her first love.

 

Tetsu was now her first heartbreak.

 

* * *

 

That was how Riko and Alex found her half an hour later. Crumpled, broken on the floor of her work place, drowning in self-pity and her own tears.

 

“Oh my God, Satsuki!” Alex exclaimed, taking the few strides to stand next to the fallen girl in a heartbeat. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

 

Satsuki shook her head forlornly. A fresh wave of misery suffocated her as she considered the answers to Alex’s questions.

 

“Are you okay? Did you get assaulted or something?” Riko asked urgently, eyes already scanning over her friend’s frame for any damage.

 

“No, I—” Satsuki hiccupped. “He—We—I just—” Her haphazard explanation got punctured by another sob that shook her body.

 

Alex rubbed her back in circular motions, shushing her.

 

“It’s okay, honey. Take deep, deep breaths. That’s it,” she urged encouragingly as Satsuki started doing as she advised. “Hold it in for a little now—feel the oxygen flooding your lungs. That’s my girl. Now breathe it out slowly.”

 

They repeated this several times under the worried scrutiny of Riko until the pink-haired woman could think straight again.

 

“Who’s ‘he’?” Riko asked at length, still ill at ease that someone had caused unspeakable harm to her best friend. “What happened? Why were you hysterical?”

 

Her queries made Satsuki visibly pause. Her eyes filled with fresh tears.

 

“Don’t just bombard her with questions like that, Riko! Of course it will upset her again!” Alex chided her with a stern face.

 

Riko’s mouth twitched, itching to remind the blonde just  _who_ had been the very first to start with the questions bombardment.

 

“He dumped me!” Satsuki managed to articulate at last, blubbery though the sentence was.

 

Riko and Alex exchanged a look.

 

“You mean Kuroko-kun?” the brunette ascertained, receiving a shaky nod from her friend as confirmation.

 

Riko cringed. She’d seen this coming eventually. She’d always hoped it would be sometime in the indefinite, far future. For a future-Riko to deal with that wasn’t her.

 

She didn’t look forward to dealing with the mess.

 

She wasn’t particularly enjoying dealing with it now.

 

“Well, uh…” she started eloquently.

 

She shot Alex a beseeching look, desperate for some back-up. The blonde shook her head helplessly, shrugging her shoulders. She had only met Kuroko once or twice for the entire duration of Momoi’s relationship with him.

 

If they could even call it that—Riko wasn’t entirely sure. That boy had always been a bit too reluctant as far as Satsuki was concerned. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he just wasn’t the guy for her.

 

Alex’s cluelessness made her absolutely no use in this situation.

 

Which, in turn, meant that Riko was on her own with this.

 

The auburn-haired woman cursed inwardly, grappling for what she could possibly say.

 

“Well, um… better sooner than later, right?” she blurted out at last. Her words made Satsuki’s weeping halt. Watery magenta eyes pinned Riko’s chocolate orbs. She swallowed thickly around the panic, daring to continue. “If it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be and that’s that.”

 

Wow, Riko thought to herself sardonically, she really had the makings of a philosopher when inspiration struck. One would have to wonder if she came up with that herself, right?

 

It seemed her self-admonishment was perfectly in place, because the very next moment Momoi burst in tears.

 

“Don’t cry!” she tried again desperately, figuratively grabbing at straws. “You guys never really worked right as a couple anyway, there’s no need to cry over him leaving!”

 

Satsuki’s wails increased in volume. Riko cringed, feeling guiltier by the second.

 

“I’m sure you’ll be better off without him!”

 

At this, Satsuki buried her face in her hands, feeling desolate and more miserable than ever.

 

Alex threw the fretting Riko a deadpan look.

 

“People probably tell you a lot that you really suck at this, right?” she questioned rhetorically, making a vein on Riko’s forehead pulse violently.

 

“I don’t see  _you_ doing any better!” the brunette lashed back while Alex patted their friend’s back while hugging her gently.

 

“I know!” the blonde exclaimed, snapping her fingers at the epiphany, once Satsuki had calmed down enough. Or more like her tears had run dry. “I know just the place to go when you’re feeling down!”

 

The three women were well on their way to wherever Alex was taking them when Riko thought to press for details.

 

“Where are you taking us, exactly?” A gut feeling made her think that she wasn’t going to like the answer.

 

“A little special place I like to frequent when  _I’m_ not feeling too good myself.”

 

Riko rolled her eyes in exasperation.

 

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

 

“Girls, I think it’s high time I introduced you to one of the finer joys in life: strip clubs!” Alex exulted.

 

She acted as though she was imparting some sort of great wisdom upon them.

 

Since Riko was rendered incapable of forming coherent sentences thanks to the outlandishness of Alex’s statement, Satsuki took it upon herself to comment.

 

“I don’t think looking at boobs dangling in my face will help me any,” Satsuki grouched.

 

She grimaced at the hideous scratchiness of her voice.

 

Alex simply grinned at her, throwing an arm around the girls’ shoulders.

 

“Oh, don’t worry,” she cooed impishly. “The club I have in mind’s a little special.”

 

* * *

 

To say that they weren’t charmed with Alex’s idea of cheering up would be an understatement.

 

However, Alexandra Garcia was a woman who didn’t take no for an answer once her mind was made up. This was why Riko and Satsuki ended up guided along streets they’d never threaded upon, led to a destination they’d otherwise never arrive at, if it were up to them.

 

The establishment they entered had dim lighting, with a lot of colourful projectors flashing around them every now and then, drawing attention to the stage in the center.

 

The first thing Satsuki noticed about it was that there were many tables. Aforementioned tables were also pretty much  _occupied_.

 

It came as a surprise to her that the patrons were all women in various states of inebriation, kicking up a fuss while making sure they got even more inebriated.

 

The trio weaved their way through the throng of bodies, seated and not, looking for a free table.

 

When they finally found one that was free, Satsuki breathed a sigh of relief. Something about this place put her on edge, setting off all the alarms in her head.

 

She couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was, until a topless waiter, wearing only formal pants and a tie around his neck, came to take their order.

 

Asking for her glass of water proved harder than it had ever been in her life, what with her wit and eyes stuck to the perfectly ripped muscles of his torso being in much too close proximity to her face than she was comfortable with.

 

Once the good-looking, much too underdressed man left—after flashing them one of the most illicitly handsome smiles she had ever seen—Satsuki rounded in on Alex. The pink-haired woman’s cheeks were aflame with embarrassment.

 

“Alex, just what kind of joint did you bring us to?!” she hissed out, incredulous.

 

“I shouldn’t be here,” Riko croaked, looking around worried. “I’m a married woman. This is not the kind of place I should be seen at.”

 

Alex laughed heartily at both of them. She patted their hands comfortingly.

 

“Relax, girls! Just relax and enjoy the show! Riko, no one’s going to see you here. I’m sure Junpei won’t take it to heart if you say you were only escorting Satsuki here for moral support—because that’s what friends do, right? Cheer each other up when they’re feeling down. And, Satsuki,” the blond now turned towards her friend, throwing an arm around her neck. “This is the best cure for heartache, believe me. Once the show starts, you’ll forget  _all_ about what’s-his-face.”

 

Satsuki grimaced at the reference and reminder.

 

The shock from being taken to an establishment like this was already great enough to occupy her entire consciousness. She hadn’t even considered what had happened earlier with Tetsu-kun until Alex mentioned it just then.

 

That didn’t mean it was okay to be dragged to a strip club where half-naked waiters catered to you!

 

Speaking of half-naked waiters, the one in charge of their table just stopped at the side of Satsuki, placing their order on their table.

 

The pink-haired woman stilled her breath because if she didn’t, she’d probably get intoxicated by the alluring cologne of the man serving them. It was ridiculously hard to look away from the way his abdominal muscles flexed as he bent down to place their drinks on their table.

 

Endless was her relief—Riko’s, too, by the looks of her expression—when the man left after Alex informed him that would be all for the time being.

 

“You’re too tense, ladies!” Alex reproached them, laughing at the faces they were making. She seemed to truly be having a blast torturing them. “You need to relax and just have  _fun_ , you know!”

 

Satsuki was about to make a scathing retort when, to her utter chagrin, Alex’s hand thrust up in the air, waving enthusiastically someone over.

 

Apprehension seeped into the pink-haired woman’s being; considering that the last person who’d frequented their table from around here was a perfectly chiselled, much too undressed person of male persuasion, she wasn’t sure what to expect from whoever was approaching them now.

 

Especially when Alex called out to them with a jolly wail of: “Kitty-cat! Over here!”

 

Her blond co-worker stood up to greet who turned out to be a rather stylishly dressed man.

 

His impressive height was the first thing she noticed about him. Considering that Alex was already a very tall woman by Japanese standards, he towered a good half a head over her, too.

 

The second thing she noticed about him was that his fashionable attire complimented his physique perfectly. He was tall and lean, his form-fitting clothes emphasizing all his best traits and drawing the attention inadvertently to how well-built he was.

 

“If it isn’t Alex!” he shouted over the din in the club, throwing his arms around the woman in question. The movement made the heavy chain around his neck jingle. “I hope this time you brought your wallet and some more of your salary,” he said playfully once he pulled away from the hug. “Would it kill you to show some generosity for the working boys, Alex? You’re always such a lousy tipper.”

 

It struck Satsuki how very familiar he acted with her friend. Another thing that struck her was how similar he was in mannerisms to her, throwing his arm around her shoulders in the same way she had done to her and Riko earlier.

 

The pink-haired woman couldn’t help staring up at him in awe. His very countenance gave his presence power, the likes of which she hadn’t seen in a very long time. He dressed, talked and carried himself with the very aura of  _unshakable confidence_ on his sleeve.

 

The air he gave off made her believe that he was the owner of the place.

 

Alex laughed raucously, unperturbed by his jab at her.

 

“I don’t know about being a bad tipper, but you can’t blame me for being a bad customer. I even brought some friends with me today!” she enthused, gesturing with her thumb to the two girls sitting at her table.

 

It seemed that her mention drew the man’s attention to the two girls not taking part of their conversation for the first time.

 

Satsuki noticed a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as he caught sight of them.

 

“Oh,  _wonderful_ ,” he stressed heavily on the word. His smirk became slier as he zeroed in on the women like a vulture. “Fresh meat. How thoughtful of you, Alex!” he joked, showing rows of perfectly lined teeth to them.

 

Satsuki swallowed harshly, a blush creeping up her neck for an inexplicable reason.

 

“I’m really counting on you tonight, Kitty-cat,” the blonde continued in a morose tone. “My baby girl here had a really rough time tonight. We’re here to give her a reason to smile again, you get what I’m saying?”

 

Satsuki’s back straightened like a chord when Alex mentioned her to the handsome stranger. His eyes travelled over to her anew, a different look flashing through them for a split second before disappearing.

 

The pink-haired young woman was suddenly very thankful for the sparse lighting of the premise. It provided the perfect cover for her brightly flushed face.

 

“That so?” the tall, dark-haired man piped in conversationally. His smile widened into a grin that was definitely hazardous for the cardiac health. “Well then, we should make sure to give her something better to focus on for the rest of the night if it started out crappy, shouldn’t we?”

 

He disengaged himself from Alex, clapping her shoulder in a friendly way, but his eyes never leaving Satsuki’s beet red face.

 

“Just sit back and enjoy the show, ladies,” he urged kindly, making a small curtsy at them. “Everyone here is a professional when it comes to entertainment, so I’m sure you’ll have a great time.”

 

He gave them a mock salute, excusing himself as he weaved further through the crowd. From their vantage point, it looked like the swarm of people had swallowed him whole.

 

His departing words left a strong impression with Satsuki, who was brought to believe more strongly than ever that someone like that was bound to be the owner of the place.

 

It somehow made sense that the head of a strip club would be a man of good taste in fashion and strong presence, right? He was practically  _oozing_ confidence and unabashed sex appeal.

 

She still couldn’t understand how being in a strip club was supposed to make her feel any better about the complete disaster that was her love life. Sure, the handsome owner was nice on the eyes, and the half-naked buff waiters were quite  _fine_ , but that was really all there was to it, right?

 

Satsuki pondered this fervently the entire time until the music started playing louder, and all gazes got pinned to the center stage, where the projectors were now focusing.

 

Only once a group of three scandalously good-looking men in suggestive outfits started their ambiguous dance on the stage did it start making sense to her.

 

When their suggestive outfits started coming off, one article of clothing at a time, everything finally clicked in her mind.

 

The entire time she’d thought this was a strip club where women were dancing while taking their clothes off.

 

Now  _this_ changed things.

 

It changed them completely, especially since all the guys on stage were dashingly good-looking, mind-blowingly well-sculpted and they could  _move_ in ways that should be illegal.

 

It took Satsuki a few songs and dance routines to build an impression—a valid one—about the venue.

 

And when she did, she could finally understand why this was the place Alex came to whenever she felt under the weather.

 

There was just something truly invigorating about watching handsome men dance for your viewing pleasure.

 

She was starting to really get into the spirit of things, her body starting to burn with excitement, when the host of the show—or so she supposed—came on stage with a dance step and a microphone in hand.

 

“And now, ladies, the one you have all been waiting for. The King of the stage!”

 

The crowd exploded in cheers and wolf-whistles.

 

Satsuki peered around curiously, wondering just what was going to happen that had all these girls suddenly more attentive than ever.

 

Not to mention louder and rowdier than she’d seen them all night.

 

The host grinned widely in a way that made quite a few women sigh dreamily.

 

“The one, the only!” The man on the stage lifted his arm, inviting in someone from just beyond the curtains around the spacious stage. “Give a round of applause for: the Azure Panther!”

 

The introduction served its purpose in riveting Satsuki’s gaze on whoever was about to emerge from the depths of the shadows. Her magenta orbs were fixed upon the stage, her heart skipping a beat or two in elated trepidation.

 

After such a powerful introduction—and quite the attention-grabbing stage name—unimaginable was Satsuki’s surprise when a familiar face stepped out into the light of the projectors to the first notes of a very familiar song.

 

It was the man who had been mingling with them, at this very table, over half an hour ago.

 

Only now he was wearing perfectly form-fitting white leather pants that embraced the length of his legs perfectly, emphasizing the flawless tone of his thighs.

 

He was wearing a dark blue vest that brought out the brilliant cobalt colour of his eyes. His outfit featured a surely custom-tailored suit jacket, also white, and a completely white tie that hung on his neck. His outfit was complete with the white hat he had on, skewed sideways as he made his way on the stage.

 

The whiteness of his attire made a stark contrast with the darkness of his skin tone. All of the garments gave the impression of something that was specifically made for him, and only him. It was inconceivable that mass production items would suit an individual so well, complimenting every single trait of their physical appearance.

 

But his dashing physique was by far not his most striking feature.

 

Oh no—not by a long shot. Satsuki came to realize this as soon as the rhythm of the song started blaring from the speakers around them, and he started dancing.

 

He was grinning in a way that conveyed fully how perfectly aware he was of the effect he had on his audience.

 

His hand went up with a curt movement to tilt the hat forward, hiding his eyes and most of his face. His back straightened to his full, impressive height. His legs started moving in ways she would never be able to master even if she spent a lifetime trying, she was sure. His shoulders and torso followed suit as he made a perfect impression of the original dance to this song.

 

It wasn’t until he started moonwalking that the female crowd erupted in the shrillest cheers yet.

 

Satsuki watched, transfixed, the languidness of his movements as he danced to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” as though it was dance of his own creation.

 

She was enraptured by the way his hips gyrated, drawing the attention of every single woman in the place to the way the leather pants outlined his crotch.

 

When he spun around on the spot, hips jutting out to the beat of the song, his jacket billowed around him with the movement. He planted his feet firmly to the ground once he was facing his audience again, halting the movement as abruptly as it had begun. His feet moved, keeping with the rhythm of the music, his hand running down sensually over his chest to stop just above his thigh.

 

He grinned again, thrusting his pelvis forward in a quick motion, before pivoting on the heels of his feet to turn with his back facing the crowd. He continued moving to the beat, pinning the attention of the women behind him to the perfectly sculpted globes of his ass.

 

The flawlessness of his backside was further brought out by the way the white leather clung to his form. It made every single woman in the house yearn to just reach out and grab a handful.

 

About halfway through the mesmerizing dance, he started discarding clothing garments.

 

It was about the time that Satsuki’s pulse started really racing.

 

When he took off the jacket with a dramatic flourish of his arm, she was made painfully aware of the fact he wore no shirt underneath his navy vest. In that way, his muscled arms were left entirely to the view of the onlookers. The women greedily took in every single movement of his.

 

The next to come off was the vest. He took it off effortlessly, with a practiced movement. The vest was then thrown with another graceful flourish towards the tables closest to the stage. The women sitting there squealed loudly, each trying to be the one to take the trophy.

 

The Azure Panther smirked dashingly, now topless as he continued working his magic dance that left all the girls in the joint with throats sour from screaming. His lively, playful gaze scanned the crowd while his shoulders and neck moved him in an otherworldly fashion, giving his ministrations an almost ephemeral feel.

 

The entire time he did his magic, Satsuki’s eyes were stuck to the way his perfectly sculpted pectorals fluttered and flexed with his every movement. When he’d had his regular clothes earlier, she would’ve been incapable of guessing just how perfectly built the tone of his abdominal and chest muscles would be. His lean body structure made no allegations to the impressive, perfectly tempered muscle mass underneath.

 

He wasn’t too huge, nor too scrawny. He’d worked himself out to just the perfect amount, turning into what she’d imagine a real life Apollo would—body-wise, at least.

 

He licked his lips suggestively, running his hands down his chest while rolling his hips to the music. One of his hands shot up to tilt his hat forward again as with his other he grabbed his crotch, thrusting forward into his hand.

 

He loosened his tie next, never once pausing his dance, the divesting perfectly incorporated in the routine.

 

He grabbed the tie in a firm grip once it was off his neck. He rubbed the fabric of it against his bare flesh. He ran it down the length of his chest, then down under the hem of his pants, procuring it out from them the next moment.

 

He threw the tie in the opposite direction of the one he’d thrown his vest.

 

With his state of undress deepening, his movements became sharper, more emphasized. His dance became sultrier, more suggestive. He ran his hands over his dark skin the way she was sure every woman in there wanted to do it. He turned around, his bare back rippling with the movement of his shoulders and torso, his hips and legs following the wave of the motion, his ass jutting out teasingly to the beat.

 

The wolf whistling intensified when he started rolling his hips, maintaining a fluid gyration while he knees dropped further and further down, the white leather digging into the flesh of his behind while he danced.

 

He jumped upright with a single movement, facing his audience frontally again, rolling his shoulders sensually. His feet slid effortlessly across the floor, making him seem like he was gliding along the surface.

 

And as Satsuki watched his muscles clench and unclench with every motion, she was starting to wonder if she herself was okay, Annie be damned.

 

She knew while she watched the final minute of his performance why the host had called him the king of the stage.

 

All the other guys before him had been good, and well-built to boot.

 

However, only this man seemed in perfect control of himself on stage. He looked like he belonged there, brimming with confidence and giving off sex appeal in gratuitous waves while he danced.

 

He looked like he belonged up there. He looked like he truly embodied every single girl’s fantasy as he rocked his body to the beat like he meant it. He was a natural, and the fact that he  _knew_ it made him even better at what he did.

 

When the song finished, he was smirking under the tip of his hat in that same way that made Satsuki’s heart flutter excitedly in her chest.

 

The crowd cheered with a deafening roar. His smirk morphed into a grin, and he bowed lightly, tipping his hat at the women before moonwalking his way out of the stage.

 

It felt like long after he was gone, his fluid movements to the addictive tune were all Satsuki could see in front of her eyes, all she could think of.

 

He certainly had a way of grabbing the audience by the heart. He riveted them, and then delivered the most impressive of performances.

 

“So how’d you like it?” Alex’s voice seeped through the cracks of Satsuki’s inattention.

 

She shook her head, trying to clear it of the thoughts that were plaguing her.

 

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, clearing her throat. She took a hefty gulp of her water, hoping it would wash down the heat that was rising in her face as well.

 

By the catty grin her blond friend gave her, she had no luck in succeeding with the last endeavour.

 

“I said, did you enjoy the show?” Alex shouted out over the cacophony surrounding them.

 

“O-oh,” Satsuki started lamely. She cleared her throat again, hoping it would help her get herself together faster. “Yes, it was quite nice. Very…  _entertaining._ ” She swallowed thickly, tongue darting out to moisten her lips. A thought occurred to her. “Is it over already?”

 

Alex chuckled at her choice of wording. Satsuki cursed herself for it as her friend gloated good-naturedly.

 

“Well, they have one more group number, but they’re mostly done for the night.” The projectors dimmed. The ones that shone with colourful light started rounding on the stage. “Oh, it’s starting. I’ll let you watch in peace. We’ll talk after.”

 

Satsuki was grateful for Alex’s understanding.

 

Especially when she registered the sight of the six men lined up neatly on the stage, dressed impeccably in police uniforms.

 

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as they started moving. Their perfectly choreographed routine immediately captivated their audience.

 

And as they all started stripping away the uniform in flawless unison, her earlier disappointment from not having seen Mr Panther in his undies siphoned out of her.

 

* * *

 

Satsuki ended up needing more time in the ladies’ room to cool down than she would’ve believed. She had splashed some water on her face and thought that would be the end of it.

 

But then she started recalling the way  _he_  had grinned at his spectators, slipping the vest off of his shoulders with a suave motion. It made her face burn anew, causing her to splash another handful of cold water on herself.

 

She spent a good few minutes trying to school her features into her usual expression. She shouldn’t have allowed Alex to buy her that alcoholic cocktail by the end of the night – it made her face adopt this unsightly, traitorous blush that was impossible to get rid of.

 

She fixed her makeup and gave herself an approving nod. With that, she finally departed from the washing closet.

 

When she got back to the inside of the club, she was unsurprised to see that most of the patrons had already left. She  _had_ taken a bit too long in there, after all. Although having less hormonal females shrieking around her definitely helped her settle down as well.

 

“Where’s Riko?” the pink-headed woman asked once she neared their table.

 

Alex bid goodbye the waiter she’d been chatting with, turning her attention to her friend. She handed her the jacket she had picked up from the wardrobe.

 

“She bolted for the exit as soon as the show was over. She had this really guilt-ridden look on her face, so I didn’t try to stop her.”

 

Satsuki laughed to herself as they shrugged on their jackets.

 

“Don’t turn into a home wrecker now, Alex,” she warned playfully, following her friend towards an exit she hadn’t noticed before.

 

“It will take  _a lot_ more than a few pretty, dancing boys to wreck  _that_  home,” the accused pointed out smartly.

 

Satsuki had to admit she had a point.

 

“Oh, there he is!” the blonde suddenly perked up, waving at someone. “Taiga! Hey!”

 

Her companion followed Alex’s line of sight, coming to rest upon the redhead from the show earlier. Satsuki’s back stiffened, her shoulders tensing, when she saw that he wasn’t alone.

 

“Oh, Alex!” the red-haired man greeted merrily, raising a hand in greeting. “Didn’t know you were in the house.”

 

The blonde threw herself bodily at him, wrapping her arms doting around his neck, face leaning in for a kiss. Her behaviour made Satsuki raise a curious brow, completely confused with the nature of their bond.

 

She didn’t get much time to ponder such unimportant details, because the next moment she found herself standing side by side with the very reason she’d needed to spend so much time in the loo.

 

She swallowed harshly, taking a shy peek out of the corner of her eye at the Azure Panther. She did so just in time to see him raise a metallic canteen to his mouth.

 

He took a generous gulp of it, exhaling in contentment once he’d devoured the liquid.

 

He offered the canteen to her wordlessly, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lips.

 

She declined politely.

 

“No, thank you. I already had enough to drink tonight.”

 

She kicked herself mentally afterwards. Where did she go off supposing it was alcohol anyway? What if it wasn’t? What if he got affronted? That was seriously the  _last_ thing she wanted to do now.

 

Much to her relief, he simply chuckled, taking another large sip from his drink.

 

They watched in strained silence as Alex and the red-haired man bickered in an almost comical fashion.

 

Well, at least on Satsuki’s part the silence was strained.

 

It was, because she wanted to say something— _anything_ , really—just to make some conversation with him. But her mind was drawing blank after blank in that aspect, choosing instead to teasingly remind her of the way he could move that stirred something deep in her.

 

“So,” he started conversationally, putting her out of the misery of having to come up with a topic on her own. “Did you enjoy the show?”

 

“O-oh, yes!” Satsuki all but squeaked out. She coughed to clear her throat, smacking herself mentally for the height of her vocal pitch. “It was very intriguing. I’d never seen anything like that before.”

 

The navy-haired man whom she knew only as the Azure Panther laughed at her confession.

 

“Is that so? Not used to our kind of joints, huh?” he continued, putting the canteen in the inner pocket of his jacket. He zipped his top up, fixing the fluff-rimmed hat of the coat before jamming his hands in the pockets.

 

“Not at all, no,” Satsuki admitted with a more relaxed smile. They shared a chuckle over it. “When Alex said ‘strip club’, this was  _not_ what I imagined.”

 

Her companion grinned, giving her a single-shoulder shrug.

 

“It was a nice surprise, though?” he prompted impishly. She blushed, burying her face in the long collar of her jacket.

 

“Yes. Definitely better by a long shot than what I had in mind.”

 

She was vaguely aware of his sharp azure eyes on her profile. The feeling of his gaze on her face made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. A tangible tension wired her limbs and short-circuited her brain functions.

 

Being so close to the object of all her indecent thoughts in the last hour tended to do that to a woman, she believed.

 

And don’t get her started on his voice. His deep baritone was so melodious to her ears, it was practically music. She couldn’t get enough of listening to him speak.

 

“As long as it improved your mood, it’s all good, I think,” he said, drawing her out of her reverie.

 

She was pulled out of her thoughts with a start. She felt disoriented as to what he was referring to.

 

“Alex said you were in need of cheering up when you guys came in. Right?” he reminded her.

 

Satsuki’s eyes widened.

 

She wasn’t sure if she was more surprised with the fact that he remembered, or with the fact that he gave enough of a damn to mention it to her now.

 

For the first time since she met him outside the club, she looked up at his face unabashed. She searched his eyes and face—for what, she didn’t know.

 

She knew that there was something really soothing about the small smile playing upon his lips—a much tenderer counterpart to the one he’d been showcasing on stage.

 

A smile that made something warm swell in her chest, turning breathing into a harder task.

 

“Ah,” she mumbled, feeling shy suddenly. She averted her gaze, breaking the eye contact. “Yes. It was a better pick-me-up than I would’ve ever thought – coming here tonight, that is.”

 

Her face burned in embarrassment at her overly honest confession. She was grateful that her companion didn’t call her out on it.

 

“Great.”

 

He noticed his friend waving him over, gesturing to him that they should go.

 

The Azure Panther turned to face Satsuki fully one last time, a kind smile stretching his lips as he did so.

 

“If you ever feel down again, don’t hesitate to drop by.” He gave her a mock little salute, an acknowledging gesture as he walked back towards his colleague. “We’d love to have you.”

 

She was sure he meant nothing but exactly what he was saying with that.

 

She knew it, yet she couldn’t help sucking on a breath when he said that.

 

Maybe her wishful thinking had conjured it, but she could almost swear that she’d seen a mischievous twinkle in his eye when he winked at her. Before she could make sense of it, he had turned around and walked away, leaving her hanging onto his departing words.

 

Her feelings for Tetsu-kun weren’t so shallow for the pain of heartbreak to be completely erased over just a night like this. She was sure the pain would come back to haunt her again, and when it did, she would figure out how to deal with it.

 

For the time being, Satsuki embraced the headful of fantasies that hour in the club had given her—all of them centred on a certain dark-skinned fellow and how dashing he looked in everything he wore: from leather, to a formal uniform, right down to his normal wear.

 

On the way home, during the rest of the evening and throughout the entire night, her mind was blissfully filled solely with memories and thoughts of all the things she wished she could do with (and  _to_ ) that man.

 

Because, wasn’t that the whole point? Giving women something to dream about.

 

And dream of him she did, that night after the show.

 

Although if asked to share what she had dreamt exactly, she would blush a shade of red that could put a tomato to shame and refuse to ever verbalize it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Writing about people dancing is _fucking hard_ , bro. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise, daymn!
> 
> So, this happened. It largely happened because of a maybe-sort of-dare that Amy issued me. She thought I could pull off anything without making the characters seem out of character – even a stripper Aomine. So, here I am, making the stripper Aomine fanfic happen. xD
> 
> I have physically very little leeway to write more than this, seeing as how I’m not even halfway done with my entries for AoMomo week. But at least this much is going to happen now. :D (Reasons why Satsuki is so timid and what happens from where this story leaves off may or may not be addressed after the week is over. Can’t afford to make this any longer at the time being, however.)
> 
>  **Why MJ?** Firstly, because he was the _King_ of pop. It seemed fitting to have confident, dancing natural Daiki dance to one of the King’s songs. Aomine is unparalleled on court, with his reflexes and how quick on his feet he is. Even if you’re not a fan of MJ, you have to admit that he can put on a show. Now factor in the handsomeness of our boy, plus some clothing subtraction. How is that not a perfect equation?
> 
>  **Why the described outfit?** Because it was brought to my attention by a meta someone did on Daiki’s casual wear that he loves having at least one white garment on him. Therefore, having him in an almost all-white outfit on stage seemed right.
> 
> Also, the reference video I used for the original dance of Michael Jackson’s song, he had a very similar outfit to the one I described. It seemed fitting, you know.
> 
> That said, I had to do some research for this. ~~Mostly rewatching Magic Mike for ideas and background.~~ Therefore, I’m not sure how well I pulled it off. Well, anyway, if you had fun reading, that’s all that really matters. :3
> 
> Thank you for your time!


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